A Brief History…

UPDATE #2: The hate goes on unabated. I don’t think this is winning gay rights any friends but they seem as oblivious to this as Governor Blagojavich.

UPDATE: Attacks on the Mormon Church are escalating and gay activists seem to be planning attacks on all religious institutions.

Chai Feldblum, a Georgetown University law professor and gay activist who helps draft federal legislation related to sexual orientation, says that, when religious liberty conflicts with gay rights, “I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.” A National Public Radio report on the conflict noted that if previous cases are any guide, “the outlook is grim for religious groups.”

I have explained to my older son that I think the gay marriage issue is an attack on organized religion, on those churches like the Catholic Church, that do not perform gay marriage. Andrew Sullivan, a prominent gay blogger (who seems to be having mental health problems lately) makes a great show of being a devout Catholic and a fervent advocate of gay marriage. My son dismisses this concern as a delusion of an out of touch old man (although he doesn’t say so openly). He recently sent me an e-mail about the “sinister conspiracy” behind the gay marriage advocacy, a sarcastic reference to my comments earlier. I think recent developments support some of my concerns,

A gay man has forced eHarmony, a Christian internet dating site, to settle a lawsuit by agreeing to establish a gay dating site.

“It’s a great victory,” said McKinley, 46, a computer programmer. “I tried to use their Web site, and you simply cannot. You only have two options: a man seeking a woman or a woman seeking a man. I’m a man seeking a man, and obviously I can’t force it to change its interface.”

The internet is full of gay dating sites. Craig’s List, a huge internet site that includes everything from jobs to prostitutes, has gay matching sites that are widely used. What did this gay man in New Jersey want ? I think it had to do with eHarmony’s Christian reputation.

The eHarmony founder, a psychologist, said that he had no expertise in gay psychology and therefore no particular talent in matching gay couples. His premise in eHarmony has been that members are looking for a marriage partner and that the intent of the service is matching people who are looking for a mate, not just a date or sex partner.

eHarmony founder Neil Clark Warren says the company has declined to serve the gay market because the compatibility research on which it relies to match people was done with heterosexuals and may not be applicable to same-sex couples.

He also states the free market argument for allowing him to decline business that he disapproved of.

But even if he decided to focus on heterosexuals because he disapproves of homosexuality, that should be his right in a free society. Potential customers excluded or offended by that choice then would have a right to go elsewhere, instead of forcibly imposing their preferences. Likewise, competitors would be free to take advantage of eHarmony’s perceived shortcomings, as they’ve been trying to do.

Talk radio appeared because of frustration on the part of conservatives with mainstream media, long perceived to be biased against them. This argument is dismissed as paranoia by the left, which claims there is no interest in reimposing the “Fairness Doctrine”. Read the comments on that post and tell me the concern about free speech is irrational.

Anyway, people who support free trade and freedom of speech and association tend to be on the political right. Those who would compel even dating services to toe the line tend to be on the left. I doubt most gays are interested in a membership in eHarmony. It is all about rubbing the noses of the majority in the “rights” of gays. I think the same applies to gay marriage. The rage about Prop 8 is the rage of frustration that the majority “got away with” something.